Battle of Covadonga

Battle of Covadonga
Part of the Reconquista

Map of the Umayyad invasion, showing Covadonga
DateSummer of 722 AD[1]
Location
Picos de Europa near Covadonga, present-day Spain
43°18′32″N 5°03′20″W / 43.30889°N 5.05556°W / 43.30889; -5.05556
Result
Belligerents
Kingdom of Asturias Umayyad Caliphate
Commanders and leaders
Pelagius of Asturias Munuza †
Alqama †
Strength
300 (according to Ahmad al-Maqqari)
  • Unknown
187,000 (according to Codex Vigilanus)[2]
Casualties and losses
290 184,000 (exaggerated)
1104 (according to Codex Vigilanus)[3]

The Battle of Covadonga took place in 722 between the army of Pelagius the Visigoth and the army of the Umayyad Caliphate.[4][5][1] Fought near Covadonga, in the Picos de Europa, it resulted in a victory for the Christian forces of Pelagius. It is traditionally regarded as the foundational event of the Kingdom of Asturias and thus the initial point of the Christian Reconquista ("reconquest") of Spain after the Umayyad conquest of 711.[6]

  1. ^ a b Amy G. Remensnyder, La Conquistadora: The Virgin Mary at War and Peace in the Old and New Worlds, (Oxford University Press, 2014), 23.
  2. ^ Crónica Albeldense. Madrid, RAH, Colection of Salazar y Castro
  3. ^ Crónica Albeldense. Madrid, RAH, Colection of Salazar y Castro
  4. ^ Sánchez-Albornoz, Claudio. "The kingdom of Asturias. Origins of the Spanish nation". Collection: Biblioteca Histórica Asturiana. Silverio Cañada, Gijón, 1989
  5. ^ Ruiz de la Peña, Ignacio. "Battle of Covadonga", at "la Gran Enciclopedia Asturiana, Volume 5, pp. 167-172. Publisher Silverio Cañada,Gijón, 1981.
  6. ^ Ring, Trudy, Robert M. Salkin and Sharon La Boda, International Dictionary of Historic Places: Southern Europe, (Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1995), 170.